Volodymyr Zelensky

Andrej Plenkovic meeting the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky/ Photo: Croatian govt

Upon his arrival, Plenkovic spoke with his Ukrainian colleague Denis Smihal, who called his visit a "strong message of support and solidarity".

"Let me first of all congratulate you on the heroism and immense resistance you have shown," Plenkovic said.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob paid an unannounced visit to Ukraine on 31 March, his first to the war-torn country. Talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal focused on Slovenia's potential participation in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and the country's progress towards EU and NATO membership.

Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday morning that the loss of Bakhmut could undermine Ukraine's momentum, forcing them to compromise with Vladimir Putin.
Since then, the General Staff of its armed forces announced that the Russian offensive had "a certain degree of success".

Slovakia signed an intergovernmental agreement on the provision of military equipment, effectively jets, with Ukraine on March 17, despite threats from Russia.

This was said by one of Kyiv's top generals, raising hopes for an unlikely turnaround in the besieged city. Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, announced on his Telegram channel that "the Russians are losing significant forces in Bakhmut and are running out of energy."

Finns are the happiest people in the world. This is clear from the World Happiness Report published on Monday. Finland has been ranked as the country with the happiest population in the world for the sixth year in a row. Bulgaria is in 77th place.

Russia stepped up its missile and drone attacks against Ukraine on Wednesday, killing students and other civilians, in a violent follow-up to dueling high-level diplomatic missions aimed at bringing peace after 13 months of war.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency reported what appeared to be a brazen attack late Monday on Russian cruise missiles being transported by train in the occupied and illegally annexed Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit Tuesday to Kiev, stealing some of the global attention from Asian rival President Xi Jinping of China, who is in Moscow to show support for Russia against the West over the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began a surprise visit to Ukraine early Tuesday, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping arriving in neighboring Russia for a three-day visit. The dueling summits come as the longtime rivals are on diplomatic offensives.

Kishida will meet President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital.